


Choose Love

by talesfromthesnogbox



Series: Stranger Prompts [8]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Mike and the gang don't know about El's powers, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2020-01-05 14:09:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18367589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/talesfromthesnogbox/pseuds/talesfromthesnogbox
Summary: Based on a prompt from Tumblr from anonymous: "Oooo an angsty el/mike fight"Mike Wheeler is finally going to fess up and ask the love of his life to the prom, but he wasn't exactly expecting her to turn him down and completely shut him out. Where did he go wrong?





	Choose Love

**Author's Note:**

> I'm baaaaack (again lmao sorry)! Thanks to the anonymous user who sent this one in, sorry it took me literally 6 months almost to the day to actually write it. I am horrible and I acknowledge this. I'd love to keep writing Mileven fics, but I honestly just feel like my creativity is so limited lately, I don't even know what to write. So if you have any suggestions, maybe pop by my tumblr and shoot me a message or a prompt? I'm over at talesfromthesnogbox.
> 
> ANYWAYS, hope y'all enjoy!

For seventeen years, El kept the biggest secret of her life. To her friends, she was the Chief’s daughter from Chicago. The two of them moved to Hawkins when she was seven, and the rest was history. But she wasn’t that girl.

El wanted to be the strong girl everyone thought she was, not the frightened child that ran away from her home in a lab when it got to be too much. She didn’t want to be the girl that skipped town with her adoptive father and a whole new identity. She never asked to be the girl with powers.

She wanted to be the girl her best friend Mike saw her as.

_Mike_.

He wasn’t just her best friend, he was her everything. Her shoulder to cry on when she and Hopper got into fights, her tutor when she didn’t understand the lessons, her non-judgmental ears when she suddenly got a great (stupid) idea.

Okay, so maybe El was a little bit in love with him, but she’d long accepted the fact that they’d never be together. They were best friends, and it was never going to happen.

“Never say never, Ellie bear.” Her stepbrother Will was _always_ on her case about Mike.

“I’m saying never in this situation. He probably thinks of me as a sister.”

Will raised his eyebrows. “Trust me, guys talk to each other about this shit too. He does _not_ think of you like a sister.”

She flushed pink. “Like I said, never gonna happen. I don’t even like him that way anyways.” El didn’t feel bad about lying to Will through her teeth. He wasn’t one to pay any mind to gossip, but when it came to his friends’ happiness, he was the first in line to hear and overanalyze every word.

“Okay sure, whatever you say. I guess I’ll just have to tell him not to ask you to Homecoming after all.”

“Wait, Mike’s gonna ask me to Homecoming?” She felt a flutter in her stomach.

“He was planning on it. But if you don’t like him that way, better not crush his heart.” El’s heart sank. _It’s better this way_ , she thought to herself, _he isn’t going to want you when he finds out what a freak you are_.

 

* * *

 

Mike woke up that morning with a mix of nerves and excitement. Today was going to be the day he asked El to Homecoming.

The teenager couldn’t keep his feelings bottled up inside anymore. Of course, he was terrified of being rejected, but his heart told him that El would accept his offer, and maybe they’d finally be more than just friends.

“Well aren’t you cheery this morning.” His mother noticed Mike’s unusually sunny disposition at breakfast.

“I just have a feeling it’s gonna be a good day.”

“This doesn’t have anything to do with a certain girl and a certain dance coming up does it?” His mother raised her eyebrow, a knowing smile spreading across her face.

Mike rolled his eyes. “None of your business, mom.”

“She’ll say yes, I’ve seen the way El looks at you.”

“How did you—”

Karen’s smile grew wider. “Ha! I knew it was El.”

He sighed loudly, picking up his bag. “Bye mom.”

“Go get her tiger!”

“ _BYE MOM._ ”

 

* * *

 

Sure, Mike was El’s best friend, but every time she saw him on that fateful day, she had a sinking feeling in her stomach that something was going to happen.

“Morning El!”

“Um, hey Mike.” She paid him no attention as she rearranged the textbooks in her locker.

“C-can I talk to you for a sec?”

El floundered for a moment until the first bell went off. _Saved by the bell_. “Sorry, I’ve gotta get to English, huge test this morning.”

“O-okay. Good luck.” She ran off down the hallway leaving him alone and confused. El had never been so distant, they’d been relatively close since the day they met… something was wrong.

His suspicions were confirmed when she didn’t show up to their regular table at lunch.

“Where’s El?” Dustin asked, taking a seat beside Max.

“She wasn’t feeling well when I saw her in chem this morning. I think she went home.” Max shrugged it off, rambling on about “girl stuff”; her voice faded away as Mike sank into his own thoughts, his own worries about El.

He stood suddenly and packed up his lunch.

“Where are you going?” Lucas asked.

“I’m going to call her to make sure she’s alright.”

Mike put a few coins into the payphone in the hallway and dialed the Hopper’s number. After three rings, she picked up.

“El! You’re home. I heard you weren’t feeling well.”

“No, I’m not—”

“Do you need anything? I can bring it over to you, my mom gave me the car.”

“I don’t need anything Mike. Please, just… I don’t want to talk to you.”

El forcefully hung up the phone, leaving Mike in a daze. _Why doesn’t she want to talk to me?_ The party didn’t question it when he rejoined them at lunch.

All day, Mike couldn’t get her out of his head. _I don’t want to talk to you_. Her words rang through his head, the ghosts of so many unanswered questions boggling his brains. He thought through every interaction, looking for where he went wrong, second-guessing himself in everything he did.

_It’s because I’m annoying._

_I baby her._

_I assume she doesn’t know something._

_She knows I’m in love with her._

_She thinks I’m weird._

_I’m not good enough for her._

It had been a fear of Mike’s since he realized he had feelings for El, but he never wanted to admit it to himself.

The rest of the day dragged on, and Mike hated himself more and more as the time passed. His mom’s countless questions during dinner didn’t help, and eventually, he buried himself in his room.

By the time 11pm came, he knew he was feeling sorry for himself, but nothing was bringing him out of his funk.

_I need to talk to her._

Mike jumped out of bed and dressed, tiptoeing to the car. He drove quickly but carefully, and soon enough, reached El’s home on the outskirts of town.

His heart pounded as he threw pebbles at El’s window, hoping to not alert the neighbours. Six pebbles in, El finally showed herself.

“Mike? What are you doing here? I told you I didn’t want to talk to you.”

“I’m sorry, I just… I just needed to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m fine. Go home.”

“No! No, El, I’m sorry. Whatever I did, I’m sorry, but you need to tell me what it is, I need to know what I did wrong. Whatever it is, I didn’t mean to hurt you, or upset you. Please, just… talk to me.”

Neither of them could hold back their tears. El’s window closed, and suddenly, Mike felt helpless again. He’d lost her.

Until, she opened the front door.

“Hop’s working the night shift.” She said, wiping a stray tear from her cheek and opening the front door to invite him in.

Mike followed her into the living room, where she sat first on the loveseat with crossed arms.

“I’m not mad at you.”

A weight lifted from Mike’s chest hearing those words. “Thank god. El, I spent all day thinking about what I did to hurt you. I thought you hated me…”

“I don’t hate you, Mike. I could never hate you.” El’s voice was small, and she kept her eyes carefully trained on the floor, but a gentle hand under her chin brought them to Mike’s.

“H-homecoming? I-I mean… I sound ridiculous, sorry. El, will you go to homecoming with me?”

She closed her eyes, a single tear dropping down her cheek. “I can’t.”

The air left Mike’s lungs. “Oh. A-are you going with someone else?”

She shook her head. “We can’t, Mike. I’m not good for you.”

“El… El don’t say that.”

“I’m not a good person Mike. I’ve hurt people.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” He was outraged, hearing her speak about herself like that. “El, you are the most selfless, caring, _beautiful_ person I’ve ever met. You’re incredible.”

“No!” She raised her voice. “You don’t know me, you don’t know who I really am!”

“Okay fine, show me who you really are then.” He snapped back.

El hesitated, her voice wavered when she spoke. “I can’t.”

With those words, everything came pouring out of Mike. He couldn’t even stop to think before saying the words he’d been so nervous to say. “Why not El? I _love_ you, I love you for who you are, how do you know I won’t love you with whatever flaw you’re hiding from me?”

El’s heart soared. “You love me?”

“Yeah!” He finally stopped to take a breath, the gravity of what he’d just told her weighing down on him, yet simultaneously lifting the weight from his chest. “I’ve been trying to tell you that _all_ day El! But you ignored me, and I thought I did something to you. I was _terrified_.”

“ _You_ were terrified? Mike, I want this, I want to love you, but I can’t. I’m terrified—”

“Of what, El? Tell me, please help me understand!”

Her heart pounded, she could hear her blood rushing in her ears, and suddenly, the furniture started to shake. She felt like a brick was in the pit of her stomach, but she was floating a foot above the couch, blood rushing from her nose. “El?”

_Oh fuck_. El couldn’t control herself, and she started sobbing, mid air, as Mike stared. “Of this Mike! I’m a freak, _this_ is what I’m terrified of.”

Mike’s mind was reeling. He was frozen in place, wanting to pinch himself (this had to be a dream, right?), but couldn’t find a way to move. He was speechless, and he felt horrible about it. All he could do was gape at El as she cried.

“You don’t want me, I’m a freak.” El sobbed again as she slowly floated back down with the furniture. Mike’s instincts told him to say something, so he did.

“El… El you’re not a freak.”

She looked at him incredulously. “Um, you just saw what I did, right? How can you say I’m not a freak?”

“I-it’s… what you did was out of the ordinary, sure, but…”

“I’m dangerous Mike. I’ve hurt people before, killed people.” She didn’t know why she was telling him all of this now; she absolutely didn’t want to elaborate on her past at that moment. “I’m not who you think I am.” Her voice sounded small again.

“Listen, El.” He took a seat beside her on the couch, gently guiding her eyes back to his. “I… my feelings haven’t changed just because you can float… and make other things float.”

_I can do a lot more than that, more dangerous than that_ , she thought to herself, letting out a hasty breath. “But, Mike I lied to you.”

“Not really, you just held back the truth. El, if you’re really afraid of hurting someone, you’re protecting yourself, you’re protecting us, your friends.”

“But I’m _dangerous_ , I’ve hurt people, I can hurt you too Mike, and I don’t want to hurt you.”

Mike closed his eyes. “You won’t hurt me, El. I love you, I want to be with you, and I know you wouldn’t hurt me.”

“But what if I do?!”

“Th-then I get hurt.” He was a little frightened by how much he meant it, but he didn’t want El to think he was afraid of her. “El, do you not want me, do you not want us? It’s okay if you don’t, really, if you don’t like me like that, we can pretend all of this never happened.”

She looked at him, a sad glint in her eye. “Don’t you get it? Of course I like you like that, that’s why I _want_ to protect you. It would be selfish of me to let you love me knowing I could hurt you Mike.” Tears started to steadily stream from her eyes again. “I’m sorry, I know I must look like a kid in a toy store that can’t get what she wants.”

He put his hand on her arm and rubbed it lightly. “El… you should be selfish. I’m not afraid. I love you, I want this, and I think you want this too.”

El shifted forward, wrapping her arms around him, leaning her head on his shoulder. Mike shivered as her ragged breath hit his neck. “Mike… if I say okay, do you promise to leave the second I get too dangerous?”

“I can’t promise that, El. I want to be there for you if things get tough.”

A broken sob left her chest. She should be pushing him away, but everything inside her told her to hold him close. He really loved her, more than she ever thought anyone could.

“Mike…” She trailed off, pressing a feather light kiss to his neck. She pulled back, away from him, and forced a watery smile. “I shouldn’t be doing this, but _god_ I want it. I really want to be with you.”

“Then do it.”

El leaned forward and carefully kissed Mike. Her heart sped up, butterflies erupted in her stomach, and even though they parted just as quickly as they’d joined, their first kiss was magical.

Mike was awestruck for a moment, but soon enough the corners of his mouth pulled up into a smile. El smiled back shyly as he wiped away her tears.

“So… that happened.” Mike bit his lip.

“I love you.” El giggled. “I’ll be your homecoming date as long as we get to do this more often.” She kissed him again, this time more boldly, pulling his bottom lip between hers. Mike gasped slightly into her mouth and gave himself over to her, losing himself in the kiss.

He felt like he was floating, it was incredible and – _wait… I’m floating?_

Mike pulled back to look around, and sure enough, he and El were floating a solid five feet above the couch.

“Hey El, I love you, but do you mind putting us down?”

“Huh? Oh! Oops, sorry.” She blushed, sounding apprehensive. Her heart sped up, and she couldn’t shake the thought that maybe she was too dangerous to let herself love him. But the way Mike’s face broke out into a smile when she met his eyes brought her so much joy. “I um… kissing you just kind of makes me feel a little light headed.”

Mike smiled and pecked her lips again. “Me too.”

El snuggled up to him like they’d done on countless occasions as their bottoms hit the couch once more. The couple sighed contentedly as they basked in the warmth of each other.

“I… it’s late, I should go.”

“Do you have to? Hop’s working till six, and I know your parents go to bed early.”

Mike looked down at her, his expression teasing. “Not an hour ago you wanted nothing to do with me.”

“Yeah, well…” El trailed off and kissed Mike, hoping to distract him.

He pulled away, shaking his head. “I love you, but I’m exhausted. It’s been a rough day.”

“I know, I’m sorry.” El weaved their fingers together, knowing he was right. It _had_ been a long, emotional day, and the only thing she wanted more than Mike was her bed. “I love you too.”

Hearing the words from El’s mouth made Mike’s entire body buzz with happiness. There was nothing he wanted more than to stay with her, especially after the emotional night they’d just had, but he did have to leave.

They drew out their walk to the front door as long as they could, both exhausted, but not wanting to leave the other’s side. “I’ll call you tomorrow, I promise. And maybe we can… I dunno, grab dinner and go see a movie?”

She raised her eyebrows. “Are you asking me on a date, Wheeler?”

“I—I mean… I guess—”

El cut him off with another kiss. “Of course, dinner and a movie sounds great. Now off to bed with you, big day tomorrow.”

“Yeah, it is.” He smiled and couldn’t help but kiss her again. “Goodnight, I love you.”

“I love you too.”

El watched Mike walk back to his car with a dreamy expression on her face. She was worried of what may happen, worried for the future and Mike’s stupidly protective nature. She bit her lip wondering if they were doing the right thing as he backed out of the driveway, but then, in true cheesy lovesick style, Mike stuck his head out the window, looked her dead in the eye, and yelled out, “I love you El Hopper!”

An involuntary giggle escaped her, and she blew him a kiss before closing the door. What they were doing may _not_ be the right thing, and maybe she would end up hurting him, but she knew that in her heart, no matter what happened, she’d never forgive herself if she didn’t choose love.

**Author's Note:**

> If you made it to the end, thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it :) I really appreciate all comments and reviews, good and bad, so let me know what you think!


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